Irish Football Fans: the antithesis of Soccer Hooligans
June 20, 2011 8:04 AM Subscribe
Here Come The Lads - "The Irish soccer team will soon arrive for the World Cup with thousands of peaceful fans who love a glass and a singsong." Written before the arrival of Irish soccer fans to the US for the 1994 world cup, with anecdotes from the 1990 World Cup, when the Republic of Ireland qualified for the first time.
I'm still mad about the "hand of gaul".
posted by josher71 at 8:31 AM on June 20, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by josher71 at 8:31 AM on June 20, 2011 [1 favorite]
I'm still mad about the "hand of gaul".
Yep, you was robbed.
posted by The Giant Squid at 8:39 AM on June 20, 2011
Yep, you was robbed.
posted by The Giant Squid at 8:39 AM on June 20, 2011
America should be so lucky. For all the concern stateside about security and hooliganism, the Irish aren't looking for a rumble.
They might not be looking for a rumble, but c'mon.
My great-grandfather was a Connolly and a bloody terrorist by any reasonable definition. There are plenty of good and honest Irishmen who also today probably could be called bloody terrorists, who because of some distant relationship to someone in the IRA could be declared an enemy combatant and whisked off the Guantanamo Bay, or who could have a drone strike ordered on their family home by some joker in Nevada, or who might be put on a no-fly list, or any of the other things America does to "terrorists," but because they're jolly well Irish we'll just overlook that.
Equal treatment under the law? There is a big difference if your name begins with an "O'" or an "al".
posted by three blind mice at 8:45 AM on June 20, 2011 [1 favorite]
They might not be looking for a rumble, but c'mon.
My great-grandfather was a Connolly and a bloody terrorist by any reasonable definition. There are plenty of good and honest Irishmen who also today probably could be called bloody terrorists, who because of some distant relationship to someone in the IRA could be declared an enemy combatant and whisked off the Guantanamo Bay, or who could have a drone strike ordered on their family home by some joker in Nevada, or who might be put on a no-fly list, or any of the other things America does to "terrorists," but because they're jolly well Irish we'll just overlook that.
Equal treatment under the law? There is a big difference if your name begins with an "O'" or an "al".
posted by three blind mice at 8:45 AM on June 20, 2011 [1 favorite]
My great-grandfather was a Connolly and a bloody terrorist by any reasonable definition.
Eh, whatever. These days in the US we have a bigger problem with Irish American terrorists, and we could use some genuine Irishmen coming over to slap some sense into them.
posted by ocschwar at 8:59 AM on June 20, 2011 [1 favorite]
Eh, whatever. These days in the US we have a bigger problem with Irish American terrorists, and we could use some genuine Irishmen coming over to slap some sense into them.
posted by ocschwar at 8:59 AM on June 20, 2011 [1 favorite]
Yep, you was robbed.
SHHHH! You'll start a fight with the real football fans. I think it goes something like this: "Ireland wasn't robbed, it was a totally fair play. What was Henry supposed to do, stop and point out the handball to the referee?"
Also as a citizen of Vancouver I note the Irish didn't so much as torch a police car over it so clearly you're not that upset anyways, and I should just let sleeping dogs lie.
posted by Hoopo at 9:01 AM on June 20, 2011
SHHHH! You'll start a fight with the real football fans. I think it goes something like this: "Ireland wasn't robbed, it was a totally fair play. What was Henry supposed to do, stop and point out the handball to the referee?"
Also as a citizen of Vancouver I note the Irish didn't so much as torch a police car over it so clearly you're not that upset anyways, and I should just let sleeping dogs lie.
posted by Hoopo at 9:01 AM on June 20, 2011
These days in the US we have a bigger problem with Irish American terrorists, and we could use some genuine Irishmen coming over to slap some sense into them.
Seconded. I have Bono's "FUCK the revolution" rant from Rattle and Hum running through my head right now.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:03 AM on June 20, 2011
Seconded. I have Bono's "FUCK the revolution" rant from Rattle and Hum running through my head right now.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:03 AM on June 20, 2011
three blind mice: My great-grandfather was a Connolly and a bloody terrorist by any reasonable definition.
Was he also a fan of football? I'm confused about your comment, as it seems to be a derail from the topic. Are you implying that some Irish folks were planning on masquerading as soccer fans in '94 and attacking the US?
posted by filthy light thief at 9:48 AM on June 20, 2011
Was he also a fan of football? I'm confused about your comment, as it seems to be a derail from the topic. Are you implying that some Irish folks were planning on masquerading as soccer fans in '94 and attacking the US?
posted by filthy light thief at 9:48 AM on June 20, 2011
[…] it was a totally fair play. What was Henry supposed to do, stop and point out the handball to the referee?
Begging the question. Also, shut up. ROBBED.
posted by urschrei at 10:50 AM on June 20, 2011
Begging the question. Also, shut up. ROBBED.
posted by urschrei at 10:50 AM on June 20, 2011
Blast from the past! It's always strange and a bit painful to read someone from elsewhere try to use your own slang in an article like that. I watched that world cup at home in Dublin but some of my dad's friends have been dining out on stories of that trip for almost 20 years. Pre Celtic tiger there weren't that many people in my circle who'd been to Florida and gotten epic Orlando sunburn (there are some who treated the whole state almost as an outlet mall for a decade soon afterward) so it was entertaining for the first couple of retellings.
I was thinking, "New York's going to be flooded with visiting Irish guys? SWEET!"
It probably will be/is being anyway, that pesky recession and all. Every second person on the subway in Toronto at the moment is a paddy, it seems!
I'm confused about your comment, as it seems to be a derail from the topic.
He's responding to a line in the SI article. Which is referring to 20th century football hooliganism, not 2011-ish terrorism, so I'm also not sure how we ended up with a spittle-flecked aside about his grandfather either ....
posted by jamesonandwater at 10:51 AM on June 20, 2011 [1 favorite]
I was thinking, "New York's going to be flooded with visiting Irish guys? SWEET!"
It probably will be/is being anyway, that pesky recession and all. Every second person on the subway in Toronto at the moment is a paddy, it seems!
I'm confused about your comment, as it seems to be a derail from the topic.
He's responding to a line in the SI article. Which is referring to 20th century football hooliganism, not 2011-ish terrorism, so I'm also not sure how we ended up with a spittle-flecked aside about his grandfather either ....
posted by jamesonandwater at 10:51 AM on June 20, 2011 [1 favorite]
Robbed, yes. But between Keane and Duff, one of them should have put away at least one of their approximately six hundred clear chances before the incident. They should have been 3 or more goals up at that point, in which case it wouldn't have mattered at all.
Still, I think we can all agree that Ireland would have been a much more worthy participant in the World Cup than France was, and maybe Domenech would have gotten fired before he could raze the French team to the ground, so it was not just an Irish tragedy.
posted by Errant at 12:28 PM on June 20, 2011
Still, I think we can all agree that Ireland would have been a much more worthy participant in the World Cup than France was, and maybe Domenech would have gotten fired before he could raze the French team to the ground, so it was not just an Irish tragedy.
posted by Errant at 12:28 PM on June 20, 2011
Mick McCarthy is the coolest person alive.
posted by Put the kettle on at 4:33 PM on June 20, 2011
posted by Put the kettle on at 4:33 PM on June 20, 2011
Lovely article, thanks for posting!
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 5:13 PM on June 20, 2011
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 5:13 PM on June 20, 2011
I'm still mad about the "hand of gaul".
What I thought should have happened was once the French team made a farce of themselves in South Africa by boycotting and quitting on the coach, was that they instead invite the Irish to come play in their final round-robin game. Think about it. Everybody wins. The French fans don't have to watch their team lay down again. The Irish at home get to watch their team which should have made the Cup actually get to play a Finals game, and the South Africans get a whole bunch of drunk Irish fans to visit and make the place more jovial than it already was.
posted by Metro Gnome at 6:56 PM on June 20, 2011 [1 favorite]
What I thought should have happened was once the French team made a farce of themselves in South Africa by boycotting and quitting on the coach, was that they instead invite the Irish to come play in their final round-robin game. Think about it. Everybody wins. The French fans don't have to watch their team lay down again. The Irish at home get to watch their team which should have made the Cup actually get to play a Finals game, and the South Africans get a whole bunch of drunk Irish fans to visit and make the place more jovial than it already was.
posted by Metro Gnome at 6:56 PM on June 20, 2011 [1 favorite]
Bit of a long shot, but does anyone have the audio of Ireland's 1970 World Cup song by Dana ? I've only heard a snippet, but it was incredibly enticing. It went, "When your man gets the ball,.."
posted by devious truculent and unreliable at 6:36 AM on June 21, 2011
posted by devious truculent and unreliable at 6:36 AM on June 21, 2011
devious truculent and unreliable: here is an archive of clips and songs, except they're encoded with Real Media. That seems to be the best source online (or at least within the first few pages of search results).
posted by filthy light thief at 9:54 AM on June 23, 2011
posted by filthy light thief at 9:54 AM on June 23, 2011
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Okay, I have a fetish. Shut up.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:20 AM on June 20, 2011